Grasshopper Kaplan Runs Again! Does Democracy suffer?
By Benjamin Wachs
Yes, it’s true. According to the Department of Elections, homeless cabdriver and former mayoral I-can’t-believe-he’s-a-candidate Grasshopper Kaplan has taken up papers to run for Supervisor in District 3.
Yes the same District 3 that, until just now, was already contested by homeless candidate H. Brown (who’s now running for school board).
According to emails he sent, Brown is upset with me, saying I made fun of him for being homeless in this article. And that’s fair: there’s nothing funny about being homeless. It’s a terrible social problem.
But there IS something funny about homeless candidates for political office. Tell me I’m wrong.
Especially Kaplan, who has said that English is his “third and only language.”
I’m not saying that they don’t have the right to run … to the extent that they can convince anyone that they legally live in the district … and I’m not saying they can’t be smart: Brown, for example, is clearly an intelligent man.
But the “only in San Francisco” quality of this – where not only do you have a homeless person running for office, but you can’t even identify him as “the homeless candidate” without the need for further identification – is just something pretty damn special, that people are inclined to laugh at.
It’s also distracting: it clearly takes time and media attention away from a debate about serious issues that the candidates-who-have-a-shot could be having. And that’s true whether novelty candidates are homeless or just naked, like George Davis, or have spent time in jail, like Josh Wolf (and, um, Grasshopper Kaplan, and, er, George Davis), or are gadflies like … well, you pick.
But I admit to being unclear about which is the greater social evil: giving time and attention to candidates like Kaplan, who distract from a discussion of legitimate issues, or deciding as a media oligarch which candidates are legitimate and which (based on the subjective criteria of “they’re hilarious!”) aren’t.
Guidance from the public is welcome on this question.
Post a Comment
foam order.com